The Dragon's Disciple
by Angelus per Letum
Summary: A new army has just set forth into adventure and adversity. In the midst of battle with the Seanchan follow the exploits of a young general and his allies please read and review


Legal Stuff: I claim no right to any of Robert Jordan's characters or ideas. I am writing this for the sheer joy of writing and do not own The Wheel of Time or the things associated with it. The characters referred to in this fanfic (The Lord Dragon, Aiel, Caemlyn, Matrim Cauthon etc.) are copyrighted by Robert Jordan and Tor fantasy. I used these elements and many of my own (at least I'm pretty sure no one else has ever used them) to create this story. Also I'm using the intro that Robert Jordan uses, in other words the first two paragraphs are not mine.  
  
The Dragon's Disciple  
  
Chapter 1  
  
An Outset Remembered  
  
The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In on Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose on the Plain of Lances. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turnings of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.  
  
South the wind blew over the Black Hills and abandoned farms. It passed through a camp of the Tuatha'an rustling the skirts of women and the hair of children. Over the Caralain Grass it billowed into the midst of a great, however one-sided, battle.  
  
The battle was coming to a close as waves of fiery death trampled the remainder of the enemy. Two survived and surprisingly enough charged their enemy's formation. A single Aiel warrior, a Stone Dog, the General thought, rose to the challenge. Veiled in black, he was ready to kill. As the two Seanchan grunts charged, one behind the other, the Stone Dog leapt through the air firing a shot from his bow in mid-leap. The arrow struck its target in the throat as the sun-darkened warrior landed directly in front of the final grunt. He pulled his knife before the Seanchan could react. The Aiel did a backward somersault as he slashed the man from crotch to neck in one long slice. It was as if he were not wearing that bug-like armor at all. He fell dead at the warrior's feet as intestines poured from the corpse.  
  
Thoroughly impressed, Commander General Traist Agaeon sat back on his horse, pondering the simplicity of the battle as the wind brushed his face.  
  
His army had stumbled upon a Seanchan scouting party, 100 strong, and sporting only one damane. Agaeon had always believed the secret to the success of the Seanchan had been their damane and their overwhelming numbers. Apparently, his beliefs were correct. Once the damane had fallen the party was hardly worth his notice.  
  
Those witches wielded the One Power very efficiently when dealing death to enemies of their sul'dam. When the sul'dam commanded a damane always obeyed. Agaeon was positive that if the sul'dam did not have them leashed, the damane would not be a problem to him or his army.  
  
His own magic users, the Asha'man, had quickly dealt with this problem and had decimated the enemy.  
  
Agaeon was a tall man of military genius. He was a brilliant tactician and his piercing emerald eyes never missed a detail, in battle or otherwise. He was a proud man of Arafelan descent. The General had good reason to be proud of himself, for he was the commander of the newest and greatest army this world had ever seen. It was the first military force to have elements of every nation under the Lord Dragon Reborn.  
  
Under General Agaeon's command were forty thousand troops. Ten thousand of them were Legion of the Dragon, a simple yet very effective group. The bulk of this Legion was equipped with the normal crossbow, short sword, and large shield, but Agaeon had the men on the very front equipped with lances instead of crossbows and long handled swords, five feet long, instead of the normal short sword. He had five thousand Kandorian lancers, the best of the best. From the rest of the borderlands came five thousand cavalry and swordsmen of the highest caliber. From the other countries that pay homage to the Lord Dragon, such as Tear and Illian, have come fifteen thousand soldiers. Each group of soldier's unique skills in battle had a spot in the strategy set by the General and his advisors. Most notable from this fifteen thousand was a group of five hundred archers from the Lord Dragon's homeland, the Two Rivers. Every archer had constructed his own bow and produced his own arrows. They were such a close knit group that each could tell the others apart by how one's arrows were crafted. Also, they were superb marksmen and woodsmen. The strongest part of his army came from across the Spine. The Aielmen came from all clans and all societies within the warrior caste of their people.  
  
This grand army had one weapon that was powerful beyond all others, the One Power. Among Agaeon's advisors were five Asha'man and four Aes Sedai. For some reason beyond the General, four of the Asha'man, all save their leader, assented to being bonded by the Aes Sedai as warders.  
  
They had left Caemlyn, not yet a month ago. Davram Bashere himself, the Lord Dragon's advisor and leader of all armies under the him, had trained them. Lord Bashere had sent them to be the hammer to crush the Seanchan on the Lord Dragon's anvil. They were to attack from the north while the army led by the Dragon Reborn himself attacked from the southeast.  
  
As they had departed Caemlyn, countless thousands cheered them on. Despite the good mood of the city, the commanders were fearful for their men. The reason for this fear was perched upon the outer walls of the city, at least twenty Aes Sedai watched them depart. According to the sisters with him, these Aes Sedai were not allied to the Lord Dragon. Agaeon had never seen so many in one place, save the White Tower. All that mattered was the army had left with no hindrance from the sisters.  
  
Between the time of their departure and now, they had seen nothing of the enemy, as was expected. This morning they had come across a small scouting party of Seanchan. To see them this far from the sea, even just a scouting group, was alarming.  
  
The General heard chattering behind him. The Asha'man, sitting on their horses not ten feet away were babbling excitedly to each other.  
  
"Can it be true?" asked the youngest, Joshua; a bright eyed young man, hardly more than a boy.  
  
"It must be, none of us feel it anymore." Replied Lance; a broad shouldered former farmer.  
  
"The taint is gone." Said their leader; a dark man by the name Vincent. The five of them smiled and made ready to depart for camp.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Corruption Corrupted  
  
"What are you on about?" Agaeon blurted. "The taint?"  
  
"Yes, we would like to know as well." Came a cool voice from behind the Asha'man. There stood Gwendolyn, of the gray Ajah, and leader of the army's Aes Sedai. With her stood the other three.  
  
"The taint on the Saidin has vanished!" Joshua practically shouted with glee. "During the battle, we all noticed it was gone. It's the first time I've been able to channel without getting sick and fearing insanity." 


End file.
